Blog Archives

Perhaps you saw this in the Huffington Post or elsewhere… there is a border collie named Chaser who has been shown to understand over 1000 words. The previous record for comprehension of words by a dog was

Nestle and Byron

200… so this one, which has been proven over three years of testing, says a lot. (You can see Chaser in action HERE.)

Chaser will retrieve, from another room, various toys by name and always come back with the correct toy. Amazing. My two dogs, Nestle and Byron, respond to the word “Toy”, but it’s always a guess as to what they bring back. I have started keeping a list of words they DO understand… and I determine this by their reaction to the word and how specific it is… and so far I only have about a dozen (including Food, Lunch, Walk, Breakfast, Out on the Deck, go to Bed and, of course, their names.)

I spend a certain amount of time lately marveling at their personalities and the way the interact with each other. Nestle is 11 years old, but is fairly active for an old dog. We don’t know how old Byron is (he is a “pound puppy” and we think he is around 4 years old), but he is the more active of the two and is always challenging Nestle to chase him and try to take the toy stuffed animal he is carrying. They have both worked out what seems to be strategies in this game (my favorite is how Nestle ignores Byron until he puts the toy down… then Nestle grabs it and takes off around the couch.)

I truly believe that dogs are extremely intelligent in their fashion, and I am always happy with their company. They are my friends and make my days extremely pleasant.

Rate this:

Bill Tchakirides

Would you believe that this old man in West Virginia was once a Broadway Producer, or a Commercial Food Photographer, or a Justice of the Peace, or a Font Designer, or even a Director of a major non-profit Arts Program on Cape Cod? Well, he was. Now he spends most of his time posting in the blogosphere and looking for things to do (retirement is a bitch).
- - -
A note about YOUR COMMENTS. I accept comments from all sides... but I reserve the right to eliminate comments with offensive (to me) language and comments which promote causes or situations I believe to be criminal or worse. Also, please limit your comments to no more than three insertions... I'm less than thrilled with the same argument on any subject repeated more than three times. Continued posts complaining about me or my views without presenting a polite argument will get you on my Spam list.

I cut unpaid advertising and absolute crap, too. Once you are cut and on the Spam list you are there forever. I don't even look at Spam posts, I just erase them... so please keep all arguments above board and avoid insulting the admittedly thin-skinned blogger, yours truly.

SPAMMERS:
Don't even bother to push your unpaid advertising disguised as comments on this blog. We are very good at keeping it off and the software we use to do so is terrific. If you want to advertise, send an e-mail to the owner (btchakir@mac.com) and he'll work out a financial arrangement for you.

If you want to e-mail Bill:

Click on the mailbox picture in any post.
_____________________

Subscribe to This Blog

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Calendar

Blogsurfer.us

Blog Stats

894,430 hits

I am a Liberal

"Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act.
What did Conservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things...every one! So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, 'Liberal,' as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won't work, Senator, because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor."
-- Matt Santos, The West Wing